Stafford Hospital Taking Steps

Goal Is To Solve Financial Crisis

Partnership

May 11, 2009|By SHAWN R. BEALS, sbeals@courant.com

STAFFORD — - In an attempt to get Johnson Memorial Corp. "out of the woods," officials are negotiating with Fairfield-based Paradigm Physician Partners, which promises to upgrade the hospital with new technology and business operations.

Johnson Memorial filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November, one of the many steps needed to overcome its financial crisis.

John Pierro, a partner at Paradigm, is to become the permanent chief executive officer of Johnson when the partnership goes into effect. The terms of the arrangement could be determined by the end of May, and officials could start making changes in August at the earliest, said Amy Krysiewski, a spokesperson for Johnson.

The Johnson network, which cared for nearly 100,000 patients in 2008, includes the hospital, nursing homes and several other medical treatment facilities.

An electronic health registry system throughout the network, new surgical procedures and new technology would increase efficiency and patient care quality, Pierro said.

"We'd like to transform Johnson Memorial Hospital into the lowest-cost hospital in the state," Pierro said. The management firm says it would do so by overhauling "everything from the business office to front-line patient care."

The agreement with Paradigm is in the negotiation phase. No information was available on cost.